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How the Essential EAFM training course was developed

The Ecosystem Approach to Fishery Management training course (Essential EAFM) has been supported financially by the Global Environment Facility (GEF), the Norwegian Agency for International Development (NORAD), the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (SIDA), and the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) of the United Nations through the Bay of Bengal Large Marine Ecosystem (BOBLME) Project; the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) through the U.S. Coral Triangle Initiative (USCTI) and the Coral Triangle Support Program (CTSP).

The main drafting team for this E EAFM Training Handbook included Rusty Brainard, (NOAA), Silvia Capezzuoli (IMA), Simon Funge-Smith (FAO-APFIC), Chris Grose (IMA), Adel Heenan (NOAA), Rudolf Hermes (BOBLME), Paulo Maurin (NOAA), Megan Moews (NOAA), Chris O’Brien (BOBLME), Robert Pomeroy (USAID-CTSP), and Derek Staples (Fisheries Management Consultant). Nygiel Armada, Robert Pomeroy, and Derek Staples drafted the original written modules for this course. Additional input was provided by Janna Shackeroff, Robert Schroeder, Jarad Makaiau, and Max Sudnovsky (all NOAA) and Magnus Torell (SEAFDEC). In addition to this Handbook, the training package includes linked powerpoint presentations, a Workbook, Toolkits and a Trainer Manual, all developed by IMA International. Final editing was undertaken by Silvia Capezzuoli and Derek Staples, and copy editing was provided by Claire Attwood. The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) agreed to the use of some figures, and Amanda Toperoff created new figures.

This E EAFM training course is the result of a unique partnership involving the following regional organizations:

the eight-country UN-FAO Bay of Bengal Large Marine Ecosystem (BOBLME) Project, funded by the Global Environment Facility (GEF), NORAD and SIDA, for improving the regional management of the Bay of Bengal environment and its fisheries;

the U.S. Coral Triangle Initiative (USCTI) funded by the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) and implemented by the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and the Coral Triangle Support Partnership (CTSP) as part of their efforts to support the six-country Coral Triangle Initiative (CTI) on coral reefs, fisheries, and food security;

The E EAFM training course responds to the need for regional capacity development, expressed by representatives of fisheries agencies and institutions within the wider Asia-Pacific region through inter-governmental and regional fisheries processes such as the:

Asia-Pacific Fishery Commission “Regional Consultative Workshop on Practical Implementation of the Ecosystem Approach to Fisheries and Aquaculture in the APFIC Region” held in Colombo 18-22 May 2009

31st Session of the Asia-Pacific Fishery Commission convened in Jeju, Republic of Korea, 6-8 September 2010.

Among the common sentiments expressed at such workshops and the issues addressed by this goal are the following: understanding of EAFM is still limited; there is confusion with similar approaches; there are uncertainties about “tools” available and applicable; and a major challenge remains - moving from theory to practice.

Through the BOBLME Project and the CTI, there were multi-country programs in place in the wider Asia-Pacific region already promoting the application of an EAFM and having the remit and means available to design and implement corresponding capacity development measures.

As early as May 2010, a core group from both the BOBLME and USAID-CTSP met with regional partners in Bangkok to discuss the development of an Asia-Pacific region specific EAFM Training Course. This process progressed during the following two years, with course modules being drafted by Nygiel Armada, Robert Pomeroy, and Derek Staples. For the CTI, these efforts led to the production of an “Introduction to EAFM” course (EAFM 101) spear-headed by NOAA for three 1-week EAFM 101 trainings in Indonesia in April/May 2012 and an EAFM training for Leaders, Executives, and Decision-makers (LEAD) collaboratively developed by NOAA and CTSP and piloted in Malaysia in December 2012. At the same time, BOBLME initiated the development of specific Regional Fisheries Management Advisories for shared fish stocks based on the EAF, and commissioned UK-based training course development specialists from IMA International to develop a five-day, modular interactive EAFM Training Package, based on the original modules.

Both course development initiatives were rooted in and closely followed the EAF Guidelines and Tools produced by FAO from 2003 onward through the EAF-Nansen Project (and tested and applied mainly in Africa and the Caribbean), and were also informed by other processes such as those underway through FAO and the Secretariat of the Pacific Community (SPC). By mid-2012, the commonalities became evident and IMA International was asked by BOBLME to explore and coordinate the potential and opportunity for harmonizing or merging the two regional EAFM capacity development processes.

A first joint EAFM curriculum development ‘writeshop’ was held in November 2012 in Phuket, Thailand, at the BOBLME Project Office. This was followed by a second ‘writeshop’ in Manila, Philippines, in January 2013. A joint training package was produced and used as course material for a first “Essential EAFM” pilot-training and training-of-trainers in Kota Kinabalu, Malaysia, in June 2013. Based on the experience gained from this pilot training, the course material was further improved and finalized.